


Down By the River

by Stormfet



Category: Critical Role (Web Series), Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Backstory, F/F, Romantic Fluff, Yasha Backstory, because she's gay, some made up gay for yasha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 10:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17579321
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stormfet/pseuds/Stormfet
Summary: On a night when your best friend slash crush is on watch and wakes you up in the middle of it, literally anything can happen





	Down By the River

“Yasha, wake up!”

It was a hushed hour of night, the kind of hour where there was a chance that the watch had accidentally fallen asleep, the hour right before the sun remembers that it’s time to begin waking up, the hour when just about everything is asleep. The hour when you’re the only person awake in the whole wide world.

Yasha groaned. “Whrrr--” she grunted, her eyes cracking open.

A face looked down at her, backlighted by the light of the half-moon, with a sprinkle of stars as a drop. Yasha could see white teeth grinning in the darkness.

“Zuala?” she asked, her eyes opening up a bit more. She sat up.

“Yasha,” Zuala said again, leaping up on her feet. Zuala had always been quick on her feet, but Yasha could catch her if given enough time. She just needed a bit to accelerate and catch up. “Come on!”

“What time is it?” Yasha said as Zuala pulled her to her feet. She had slept a little ways away from the rest of the tribe. The night before was coming back. There had been a big bonfire and a deer that Kojen had caught. It had been a big deal, and everyone had stayed up in the night. Yasha not so much, going to bed early with a headache and a desire to avoid the company of the tribe on meat night. It got a little violent. 

“Does it matter?” Zuala said.

“Who’s on watch?” Yasha said.

“Me,” she said with a grin. 

“Home free,” Yasha said, shaking her head. Now she was awake. 

Zuala grabbed the scaffolding of their erected watch tower, twirling herself around the wooden pole as Yasha threw on her pants. Zuala’s white hair whistled in its usual tight white braid, whipping around as she spun faster. She leapt off the scaffolding and grabbed Yasha’s hand. Yasha felt a surge of electricity shiver down her spine. God, Zuala was beautiful. One of the few things in Xhorhas that was. They took off running across the moors, a band of trees in the distance. Zuala headed towards them, and Yasha began to run faster. They drew side by side, Yasha shooting Zuala a grin. 

“Hurry up,” Yasha said as she took the lead. Zuala laughed a clear bright laugh, leaping and grabbing Yasha’s shoulders. They tumbled down a hill.

“Check it,” Zuala said as they slid to a halt. They found themselves at the bank of a wide flowing river. 

“Clean water!” Yasha’s mouth dropped open. “Is this--”

“The great divide,” Zuala said. 

“I haven’t had a proper bath in ages,” Yasha said.

“Last one in’s a rotten carcass,” Zuala said, stripping her shirt in less than a second. 

Yasha felt blood rush to her neck as she flushed. This crush was going to kill her. 

It had been going on for quite some time now...pretty much since Yasha had earned her name and been old enough to realize that feelings existed. How could she not? Their tribe was full of savage people, and Zuala was gentle. Her white hair was more beautiful than anything Yasha had ever seen. White was not a common color in Xhorhas. It got muddy too quickly. 

And her marksmanship! And her fast reactions! And the way that her leather armor hugged--

Okay. Yasha shook her head. 

“Carcass!” Zuala called as she dove into the river completely naked. 

“I let you win!” Yasha barked back as she stripped. She couldn’t help but feel Zuala’s eyes watching her back. But they had seen each other naked hundreds of times. Wasn’t any different from anyone else in the tribe. Wasn’t like they all piled into rivers and lakes at the same time when they found them, the waters turning into a roiling mass of naked limbs and screams and water fights. 

But it was just them. That never happened. 

Sure, Zuala was her best friend. They took watch together whenever they could, they slept together whenever they could, taking the same fur blanket at night. But Yasha knew it could never be so. Her mate would be chosen for her, and it certainly would never be another woman, let alone Zuala. 

That didn’t stop Yasha from dreaming. 

Yasha leapt off the rocks on the edge of the deep, wide dividing river stark naked, the wind whistling across her body before she plunged into the dark, a ripple of cold streaking across her body as she dove deeper and deeper, the water pressing in on her like a comforting blanket. She felt her body slow from the momentum and with a few strokes, rose back to the surface. Her head emerged with a gasp. 

“Finally, slowpoke,” Zuala said, before Yasha yelped as she felt a finger poke her in the side. 

“Maybe I was just enjoying myself,” Yasha said, returning the poke. Zuala flinched with a grin on her face. 

“You’d enjoy yourself much more with me,” she said, causing Yasha to flush and dunk Zuala in the river. She came up spluttering with a laugh. 

“Hush, you,” Yasha said. 

“Sharpen your wit, Yasha,” Zuala said with a wink. 

“Never as sharp as you,” Yasha said. It was true. Anytime anybody dared to snipe at Zuala, they would leave stinging from her tongue. Everybody in the tribe knew it. Even the Sky Spear. 

“Come on, let’s race,” Zuala said as she pushed off the rock on the side of the river. 

It was a deep, wide river, running down the center of Xhorhas from the northern mountains all the way down, eventually ending in the great lake in the south. There were a few crossings, but it didn’t matter. The tribe would stay on the western side anyway, and even if they didn’t, most everyone could swim. They dealt with enough swampy mud anyway. 

Yasha wasn’t as fast in the water, and the lead Zuala took grew a smidgen, her feet just in front of Yasha, kicking the black water in her face. Yasha saw the far bank approaching, and grabbed onto Zuala’s leg, dragging her back against protests. Yasha surged forward and touched the bank just as Zuala did. 

“Cheater!” she said.

“Specify the rules next time,” Yasha said with a wink, panting.

Zuala disappeared under the water. Yasha waited in silence for a moment, before Zuala leapt out of the water and launched herself at Yasha’s shoulders, grabbing onto her back and pulling her back in the water. Yasha let out a yelp, falling on top of Zuala. 

“Underhand turtle!” she said at Zuala. 

“Unabashed cheater!” Zuala retorted, splashing water on Yasha’s face. Yasha jumped onto her, pulling her under. 

They fell below the surface, Yasha’s arms wrapped around Zuala’s very naked body as they sunk for a moment, before Zuala wriggled out of them, smacking Yasha in the face with her foot on her way up. Yasha grabbed her foot again and hauled herself to the surface. 

They broke the water with a gasp, grabbing onto the rock. The flow of the divide was sluggish that night, but still there, and they had drifted slightly downshore from their clothes. 

“Truce for now?” Yasha asked. 

“How could I say no to that face?” Zuala said with a gentle touch to Yasha’s cheek, sending a bright shiver straight through her abdomen. 

“Come on,” Yasha said, diving under the water again and swimming back towards the home shore. 

They threw themselves on the bank, gasping and panting, naked on the rock, cold in the moonlight. But it didn’t matter, Xhorhas was always cold and wet. The river had washed the dirt and muck from their skin, and it felt like they were born again. They lay together on the bank, gazing up at the star as the cool night air wicked the water from them. 

“I need a shave,” Yasha broke the silence, raising her arm to her face. The hair there was thick and black, and definitely too hairy for comfort. Her legs were the same. She didn’t mind it most times when it provided protection from the mud and sun, but when she was clean...it was nice to have a break from it.

“When don’t you,” Zuala said with a slight grin. 

“Hush, you,” Yasha said, leaning over and grabbing her greatsword. 

Zuala flipped over onto her stomach, her wet hair trailing on the rock as she watched Yasha drag the sharp blade of the sword over the tops of her arms, the hair coming off in clumps. 

“You do this a lot?” Zuala asked. 

Yasha shrugged. “Only when I bathe. It’s been a while since we’ve been by water that’s not swampy.”

“Tell me about it,” Zuala said, flipping over and pointing at a large spot on her thigh. “Mr. Mud Cake’s finally been washed off; I was going to name him if he were there much longer...”

“Right,” Yasha said, peeling her eyes away from somewhere else on Zuala’s body to glance at the now clean spot. She went back to shaving. Zuala watched. 

Yasha could feel Zuala’s eyes on her, but she shoved her feelings down for a moment and just revelled in the company of her friend. These moments of silence were the best thing. Their tribe was so noisy, always yelling and fighting and bouting and shouting, but when they could escape, just the two of them? It was perfect. 

Yasha finished shaving, holding out her now clean, pale arm to Zuala. “How’d I do?” she asked. Zuala reached out, running her dark fingertips over Yasha’s skin, her lips parting in surprise. 

“The softest thing in this godforsaken country,” she said. Yasha smiled. 

“Cool, now for the legs,” she said. 

“You think you could do me?” Zuala said. Yasha tried not to flush. Anywhere you’d like, my love. 

“Where you thinking?” Yasha asked as she began running the blade down her legs.

Zuala looked down at her dark, lithe body. The few white hairs that were there complemented her navy skin, even the tufts beneath her arms...

“You do bikini lines?” she asked, tracing the white curls below her belly button. 

This time Yasha couldn’t hold back a deep purple flush as she looked up at Zuala, splayed on the rock, her fingers tracing a circle on her low abdomen. Yasha met her white eyes for the briefest of moments and felt a sort of paralyzing hunger. Her neck felt like it was on fire, and she could feel her cheeks burning as she tried to both look and not look.

“Um,” she said, nicking herself on her leg. She licked her finger and wiped away the blood. “Okay, uh, first...”

“Go on,” Zuala said. 

“I think you look great as is,” Yasha said very quickly. Zuala opened her mouth. “But!” Yasha said, “If you want a shave, I can do that.”

Zuala smiled. “You’re sweet,” she said. 

“I try to be in a country that is decidedly not,” Yasha said, starting on her last leg, her right now smooth and pale as her arms. 

“Trust me, it is not forgotten,” Zuala said. 

They sat in silence, Zuala gazing at Yasha, Yasha gazing pointedly at her leg as she shaved the black hair off. In a shake, her skin was as smooth as her other limbs. 

“So, a bikini shave,” Yasha gulped and turned to Zuala. “Welcome to Yasha’s Shaving. All your shaving needs.”

“I’ll take it!” Zuala said. 

“I’ll need you to uh...” Yasha stumbled on her words. “Spread your legs.”

“Sexy,” Zuala said immediately with a laugh. Yasha rolled her eyes up to the moon. She was too weak for this. 

“Okay, put your left leg up like this,” Yasha said, reaching out to touch Zuala’s knee to get the angle right. She didn’t want to be cutting up Zuala in such a delicate place. 

Yasha held her sword and very delicately placed the blade along the inside of Zuala’s thigh, Zuala’s mouth parting at the cool metal blade touching her skin. 

“This shouldn’t hurt,” Yasha said, “And stay still.”

With a steady hand, she dragged the blade of the sword towards her, from the inside of Zuala’s thigh to the edge of her lip. The white hair came off in a sheet, and Yasha reached out and brushed it away.

She had to admit she did a good job. But literally she could have done anything to Zuala and Zuala would have looked perfect. 

“Other side,” Yasha said, and Zuala rolled around to mirror her other leg. Yasha repeated the blade drag, a neat clump of white hair falling off.

“A little at the top?” Zuala asked. 

Yasha felt a pang. The curl of hair just beneath Zuala’s belly button was lovely, beautiful, she just wanted to kiss it dammit. “Are you sure?” she asked. 

“Are you sure?” Zuala asked. 

Yasha hesitated. Zuala’s white eyes stared her down. The silence stretched on.

Yasha reached out, tracing a finger from her belly button along that bottom part of her abdomen, before meeting Zuala’s eyes and leaning down to touch her lips there. 

“I don’t think you should shave it,” Yasha said. The silence could have been broken like ice. “It’s beautiful.”

Zuala reached out, removing the sword from Yasha’s hands. She placed it on the rock, and touched Yasha’s hand. 

“Like you,” she said. 

The moment of silence stretched on, unbroken in the night. Blue eyes met white, and Zuala reached up, cupping Yasha’s chin, pulling her forward, Zuala’s eyebrows forming a sort of half question. 

Zuala’s lips met Yasha’s and the stars exploded above them in the night. 

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that,” Zuala said. 

“I think I have an inkling,” Yasha murmured, her head swirling in joy, her heart pounding. “Don’t stop...”

Zuala pulled her in again with a smile and this time it was a long time before they left the river bank, the moon watching them from the night sky, shrouded in silence, protected by the dark.

**Author's Note:**

> Just a psa, Yasha is not my character she belongs to Ashley Johnson, I just think she is incredible, this is my personal take on some of her backstory bc I'm obsessed
> 
> Peace, love, unity, respect always <3 visit me on tumblr if you so desire i-am-guacamolly


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